Relief as Ratana battle for win

IT'S TAKEN nine weeks and a some heartache, while at least one player will have to front the union judiciary in the aftermath, but Harvey Round Motors Ratana have their first Tasman Tanning Premier win after digging deep to hold out Utiku Old Boys 20-14 at the Pa on Saturday.

Playing the wet and windy conditions perfectly at the Pa, Ratana went against the breeze and slight uphill slant of the ground in the first half, then took advantage of some critical dropped ball by the visitors in the second - scoring four unconverted tries - before grimly defending in their 22m area for virtually the entire final quarter.

Utiku showed good co-ordination with back-to-back tries through midfield cross-plays in the first half, but when dragged into Ratana's grinding affair in the second stanza they were thwarted by the home side around the ruck - legal or otherwise.

Yet ultimately it was clean dropped ball which sunk them as Ratana lifted another notch and poured on the pressure.

Ratana had to make do with 14 men for a fair portion of the contest as second-five Hawea Meihana punctuated an excellent two-try performance with a sinbinning for an errant boot to the head before halftime, while winger Onewa Tai was sent off in the second half for an off-the-ball incident.

No8 Charlie Mete contested everything, which was both good and bad as he had a running battle with referee Glen Collins, while fellow forwards Issac Fonotoe, Marius Joseph and Manson Nepia were strong.

For Utiku, flanker Matt Crawford, hooker Jack Anderson and lock Archie Toseland were everywhere, while the midfield combination of Willy Hirini and Brett Illston had a great first half, and halfback Hepa Payne initially had it over his opposite Kane Tamou, until the Ratana pack gave their talented playmaker the chance to gain the ascendancy.

"Utiku wasn't going to give up lightly, made us work hard for it," said a relieved Ratana coach Cornel Mason after the game.

The old saying at the Pa is you don't just play the team, you play the sidelines.

And in classic fashion Mason and assistant coach Vaan Rauhina were right at the dead-ball line with their reserve bench, urging the side to hold out in the dying minutes.

"It's just good to get the first win for the season. It keeps everyone positive," Mason said.

With coach Matt Gilbert unable to attend, assistant Geoff Transon took Utiku into battle and was frustrated by the circumstances.

"A few decisions didn't go our way."

He had wanted the side to use more of their attacking advantage out wide, but instead of putting Ratana away, his team was initially trapped in their own territory straight after the break as the rain set in, giving up two quick tries to lose the initiative.

"We were dominating through the middle in the first half, but the ball went away in the second half.

"Ratana dee'd [defended] up in the second half."

Utiku struck first when Hirini burst away from two diving tackles and popped the ball inside to Illston, who released his pass in the tackle for winger Karl Farrell to get over in the corner, which fullback Callum Crellin impressively converted from the sideline.

Ratana went on the pick and drive through prop Kereti Tamou, Fonotoe and Nepia, and after winning a scrum on the 22m, Meihana got outside his man and dragged another tackler over the line.

The teams engaged in kicking duels, then after successfully defending their tryline, Ratana went to sleep as Hirini again broke the line and put flanker Mark Logan away beside the posts.

Ratana rumbled right back to Utiku's tryline in customary pick-and-go fashion, with Tamou marshalling them and just waiting for a hint of an opening. After Utiku had managed to hold up and push Ratana's forwards back off the tryline on multiple occasions, Tamou saw his chink in the armour and dived over, making the score 14-10.

Despite starting the second half without Meihana, Ratana's forwards drove downhill for more than 20m, then winger Rewi Hudson just couldn't quite gather the chip kick right on the tryline.

But he soon had his moment as Ratana stayed on attack and spread the long pass to his wing to hit the front 15-14.

Meihana made his rest work for him as he steamed on to the ball near the line to score after good lead-up work from reserve hooker Keanu Puki-Kaa, playing for his home club after Wanganui Metro's game in the Manawatu Colts grade was canned by the wet weather.

From there, play stayed in Ratana's quarter for most of the rest of the match.

But despite Utiku's pounding, a mounting penalty count and playing with 14 men, Ratana tackled, intercepted, stole and drove their way out of danger to get a tick in the win column for 2016.

-Scoreboard:

Harvey Round Motors Ratana 20 (Hawea Meihana 2, Kane Tamou, Rewi Hudson tries) bt Utiku Old Boys 14 (Mark Logan, Karl Farrell tries, Henry Hives con, Callum Crellin con). HT: 14-5 Utiku OB.